Pride is a language everyone understands!

 Now that we've all had a chance to "unpack" the experience shared over the weekend (migration pun intended), I wanted to share my deep appreciation for everyone involved for a job extraordinarily well done! Each individual, every single member of the Soul Rhythms team, held a piece of this project, a grand collaboration of gifts and responsibilities that came to fabulous fruition on stage! Such a beautiful model for our community!

From the beginnings back in January, doing teasers in schools and planning aspects of this 7-week residency, I knew this would be an amazing artistic team. That it WAS! The unique gifts shared with our youth here in Dayton were rich, multi-layered and generously given by our diverse, dedicated team of artists. Without exception! I was grateful for the easy interplay between visiting and local artists, for the dynamic collaborations that were explored, for the lingering joy we still hold, reflecting on the meaningful expressions of the theme and the very core of what Culture Builds Community is all about. Fantastic! My sincere thanks go to the wonderful Rodney Veal for his distinctive leadership, his positive demeanor, his friendship (to each of us) and his vision. It is no small feat to bring so many unique aspects together, creating a perfect balance and flow for a family audience. Kudos, Mr.Veal.Brilliant.

Outstanding efforts were made by the school groups involved, led by our Site Coordinators. Truly, this project is dependent on the leadership of these folks, facilitating the logistics of the students, maintaining communication with all participants, tending to an often rigorous schedule. Thank you for your tremendous work! When there was no more time in the day, you managed to invent more, or so it would seem (grin). What a terrific contribution our adult participants made who danced, organized and modeled the expectations for the younger crew! This was particularly poignant in the Twin Towers group, led by four members of the Ahiska Turkish community who assumed the roles of artist/mentors, involving other adult dancers as well to recreate the family warmth of long standing traditional, celebratory dances.

Our tech crew for this project was outstanding! Gina Neuerer from Sinclair and her lighting team; Dan Behnke on sound; Shannon Blair, our stage manager; Rodney Veal, who put together all photo and video sequences; the UD volunteers from the Fitz Center, who kept the young folks engaged backstage; and the Masonic Center staff who gave their time generously in set-up and tear down. To all, my heartiest congrats! It all worked!!!

At the very center of our asset-based, CBC model are the young participants who deserve our collective gratitude! They worked diligently, creatively and willingly through a long two months of commitment! They gave their abundant talents to the team effort. What a testament to community building. They know how to do it. Without our young people, these traditions shared by artists and elders would have no where to go. The passing down of sacred traditions, experiences and artworks through family members, educators, and artists, is very moving. It’s the human family moving forward from a varied and rich foundation: receivers of knowledge through honoring and doing. Our youth were shining bright on Sunday! No question. Pride is a language everyone understands!

As Hasan Isakuut said, we are all now part of the Cityfolk family. May we continue to pass down our arts, our passions, our deeply held beliefs to the next generations, those who will learn from us to treasure cultural traditions - art with a purpose. This is a communities soul rhythms.